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IPLT-TV
IPLT-TV, virtual channel 39 (UHF digital channel 23), is an owned-and-operated station of MeTV licensed to Inkopolis. History Early history The station first signed on the air on September 15, 1987 as IHSN, carrying programming from the Home Shopping Network. The station was owned by HSN's broadcasting arm, Silver King Communications. The primary purpose of these stations was to force carriage of HSN on cable providers in each market through the Federal Communications Commission's must-carry provisions as QVC was taking away a large slice of HSN's audience as several providers had held an ownership interest in QVC, but not HSN. Eventually, Silver King Communications acquired an ownership interest in the USA Network, and as a result, later became USA Broadcasting, the broadcast arm of media company USA Networks, Inc. As an independent station In June 1998, USA Broadcasting launched a customized independent station format, "CityVision", which infused syndicated programming—including a few produced by sister production unit Studios USA that also aired nationally on USA Network—with a limited amount of local entertainment and magazine programs. On August 1, 1998, the station changed its call letters to IPLT-TV (which represented the station's "Splat 39" branding). Channel 39 adopted the "CityVision" format first adopted almost two months earlier by Wuhu Island sister station WSFT on that date, converting into a general entertainment independent station; HSN programming remained part of the schedule, however it was relegated to two separate blocks, running nightly from 2:00 to 5:30 a.m. IPLT's initial lineup under the "CityVision" format began to primarily feature a mix of reality shows (such as America's Funniest Home Videos and Real TV), sitcoms (such as The Red Green Show, Sister, Sister, The Three Stooges, The Andy Griffith Show and NewsRadio) and talk shows during the daytime and prime time hours, as well as drama series (Knight Rider and The A-Team) on weekend evenings, and movies during prime time on weekends and on Sunday late afternoons. It also aired USA's original programs (such as Ten ''and ''Strip Poker). It also carried a decent lineup of children's programming on Saturday mornings, including a mix of those sourced from New Line Network's New Line Toons block (such as The Mixels Show and The Forest Ranger Troop) and the BKN syndication block (such as Highlander: The Animated Series, Mighty Max, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Underground, Jumanji, Pocket Dragon Adventures, Beakman's World and Extreme Dinosaurs), and was even the Inkopolis home of the Pokemon anime when it aired in first-run syndication before moving to Kid's WB in 1999. The station also used the "City Vision" ("Your City is Our Studio") bumper cards common with USA-owned stations that had converted to general entertainment independents during this time. The local programming-infused format that was adopted by IPLT-TV and its sister stations in Wuhu Island and Toad Town, was originally planned to be expanded to the remainder of USA Broadcasting's stations, with some having either already adopted or eventually switching to the format. Due to financial problems, in September 2000, USA eliminated half of IPLT's entertainment programming inventory, filling the newly opened time periods with an expanded block of infomercials during the morning hours and an additional block of HSN programming on weekday mornings from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The station also reduced its children's programs inventory to a daily half-hour of educational programming (consisting of the reality-documentary series Animal Rescue). Sale to Weigel In the summer of 2000, USA Networks announced that it would sell off its television station group, in order to focus on its cable network and television production properties. Among the prospective buyers for the USA Broadcasting unit was The Walt Disney Company—the corporate parent of ABC, which already owned IABC (channel 11)—which was the original frontrunner to purchase the group. However, Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications beat out Disney and the competing bidders in a close race, securing a deal to purchase the USA Broadcasting stations for $1.1 billion on December 7, 2000. Univision Communications, which already owned IUNI-DT (channel 24), and instead would build a new station from the ground up, TeleFutura (now UniMas) owned-and-operated station ITLF-DT (channel 63) in 2003; chose not keep IPLT-TV, however, so it was sold separately to Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting. Weigel assumed control of the station on May 21, 2001, and immediately switched the station to a brokered-time ethnic programming format. Becoming MeTV Inkopolis On February 1, 2005, IPLT-TV began broadcasting MeTV, which had earlier debuted on Chicago station WCHI on January 6, 2003, immediately becoming the station's full-time programming format and on-air branding. On August 4, 2007, IPLT introduced "Sí! Me-TV" (the first two parts of the moniker were based on the phrase "see me", although "Sí" is the Spanish word for "yes"), a weekend morning block which featured Spanish-dubbed versions of American shows from the Universal Television library (such as Hercules, Xena, Miami Vice, Quantum Leap and The Incredible Hulk). Some programs that aired during the block were available to the station only in Spanish, due to syndication restrictions imposed on the original English-language versions; "Sí! Me-TV" also offered a public affairs program targeted at Inkopolis' Latino and Hispanic population, which began at a later date. The block was discontinued on January 25, 2009. On October 30, a new 39.2 subchannel was launched as a charter owned-and-operated station of This TV, a new network from Weigel and MGM Television focusing on movies and classic television series. MeTV has been successful in Inkopolis on IPLT, outrating daytime programs seen on MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station IFST as of September 2011. On November 22, 2010, Weigel announced that they would turn the MeTV concept into a full broadcast network and compete fully with the Retro Television Network and Antenna TV, while complementing its successful sister network This TV (Weigel would transfer the ownership stake it held in that network to Tribune Broadcasting in November 2013, upon which it moved to a newly-created third subchannel of that company's existing Inkopolis station, CW affiliate INK-TV, resulting in the 39.2 subchannel being deleted). As of December 15, 2010, IPLT-TV carries most of the national feed of MeTV. However the station since coming under Weigel ownership also carries a public affairs program called Inktarian Me, which airs weekend mornings on IPLT, and deals with topics and community calendar events. The station also carries some different educational and informational programming such as Green Screen Adventures (which is broadcast on the national MeTV network) to meet the FCC's mandated E/I thresholds. A locally programmed MeToo subchannel was originally expected to be added on 39.2, but was later used for Weigel's other national subchannel concepts. Upon the launch of Heroes & Icons in 2014, the 39.2 subchannel was reactivated to serve as an owned-and-operated station of that network. A 39.3 subchannel was later added after The Health Channel debuted in 2016, though it would later be deleted on December 31, 2017, due to The Health Channel's sale to the owners of MyTV (Adelphia Communications Corporation and Disney-ABC Television Group). Gallery IPLT_1998.png|IPLT-TV logo from 1998 to 2001 during the "CityVision" era IPLTID1998.jpg|IPLT-TV's "CityVision" era ident. Digital television Digital channels The station's digital channel is multiplexed: Category:Me TV Affiliates Category:Channel 39 Category:Inkopolis Category:Television channels and stations established in 1987 Category:Former independent stations Category:Former HSN affiliates Category:Weigel Broadcasting Category:MeTV Affiliated Stations Category:MeTV Category:Inktarian Nation Category:Former HSN Affiliates Category:Former Independent stations Category:Me-TV affiliates